Patrick Dailey

Board President

Patrick Dailey has been described as possessing “a powerful and elegant countertenor voice” (Los Angeles Daily News) and a “VOCAL STANDOUT” (Boston Classical Review). He has appeared in leading roles with the Grand Rapids Symphony, Opera Memphis, Pacific Opera Project, Tete a Tete New Opera Festival(UK), Austin Baroque Orchestra, Shreveport Opera, Opera Louisiane, Woodhouse Opera Festival(UK),  Il Festival de Ópera Barroca de Belo Horizonte (Brazil) and many others.

A versatile artist and performer, Mr. Dailey is active in baroque operatic and concert repertoire, new music and world premieres, classical crossover, musical theatre, dance, and the full spectrum of Black concert and sacred music across the diaspora. In 2009, Mr. Dailey made his Kennedy Center debut in a finale duet with Aretha Franklin at the annual Let Freedom Ring MLK Celebration on the eve of President Obama’s inauguration. Later in 2017, he made his NYC cabaret debut at Subculture NYC at the invitation of Tony Award winning composer Jason Robert Brown. He appears regularly with Cook, Dixon, and Young (formally of Three Mo’ Tenors). Mr. Dailey is featured in the documentary, Fatherhood (FUSE TV, 2019) directed by London based director, Ben Gregor and on recording projects from Louis York (American Griots, 2019), Adrian Dunn (Redemption Live in Chicago, 2020 and Emancipation, Act 1, 2022), The Aeolians of Oakwood University (2020), and and Sir the Baptist’s Urban Hymnal (2022). Most recently, Mr. Dailey was featured on season 17 of America’s Got Talent with Metaphysic as the operatic singing voice of Terry Crews in a performance Simon Cowell referred to as the “best of the series.”

Growing in his reputation as a scholar, Mr. Dailey was invited to the Center for Black Music Research's inaugural Black Vocality Symposium in 2013 giving a performative presentation entitled "The Anatomy of the Black Voice: Peculiarities, Challenges, and Regional Differences". Since that time, he been Artist-in-Residence, masterclass clinician, and guest lecturer at Southern University, Prairie View A&M University, the University of Arkansas, New England Conservatory, Tufts University, and Vanderbilt University among others. Mr. Dailey was lead soloist and vocal music curator of the official MLK50 Commemoration at the National Civil Rights Museum in 2018 in Memphis, TN. In the fall of 2019, he presented at the inaugural Harry T. Burleigh Week organized by the Burleigh Legacy Alliance of Burleigh’s hometown of Erie, PA and regularly presents lectures and programs in conjunction with the organization. In June 2020, Mr. Dailey curated and presented a virtual clinic and webinar entitled “A Stirring in My Soul: The Negro Spiritual and Social Justice Movements” presented by the National Museum of African American Music. He is also visiting artist-in-residence at St. Luke’s Episcopal-Germantown (Philadelphia, PA) where he recently premiered his curated concert, Sankofa Project: A Journey Through Black Music and Artistry presented by Opera Philadelphia and Price Fest.

During the 2021/2022 season, Mr. Dailey made debuts with Bourbon Baroque, Nashville Symphony, Gotham Early Music Scene’s Open Gates Project, Chicago Philharmonic, Missouri Symphony, and the Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival. Mr. Dailey’s 2022/2023 season includes debuts and appearances with  American Opera Projects, Auditorium Theatre Chicago, Handel Choir of Baltimore, The Thirteen, and Washington Bach Consort as well as the world premiere of Hannibal Lokumbe’s The Jonah People: A Legacy of Struggle and Triumph with the Nashville Symphony. 

A graduate of both Morgan State University and Boston University, Mr. Dailey is professor of voice at Tennessee State University where he established the Big Blue Opera Initiatives, Tigre Opera Creation Lab, and the annual Harry T. Burleigh Spirituals Festival. Additionally, he is the founding director of the W. Crimm Singers (aka Wakanda Chorale) and co-founder of the progressive historical performance ensemble, Early Music City. He serves on the boards of Alias Chamber Ensemble, Salama Urban Ministries, and the Nashville Repertory Theatre. A passionate advocate for Historically Black Colleges and Universities and education, Mr. Dailey serves on Opera America’s Learning and Leadership Council and is a consultant with Early Music America, and New Music USA. 

In 2020, Mr. Dailey was listed among the Nashville Black 40 Under 40 and was recognized for Outstanding Service from the Coalition for African Americans in the Performing Arts of Washington, DC. Additionally, he is a 2020 recipient of an Individual Artist Fellowship from the Tennessee Arts Commission. Most recently, he was named Best Classical Singer in Nashville Scene magazine’s 2022 Best of Nashville issue. 

Mr. Dailey holds membership in the National Association of Negro Musicians, the National Association of Teachers of Singing, the American Choral Directors Association, and Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity of America, inc

Website:  www.PatrickDaileyCT.com